View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Wednesday 25 July

Quite a nice day, especially as we finally lost the wind that has been much in evidence since the weekend. We once again managed 17C this afternoon, a temperature I much prefer to the 30C that was on the thermometers in London.

That city is ready to start hosting the 2012 Olympic Games, if it weren't for the fact that the Games have already kicked off. A soccer football match in Cardiff heralded the commencement of the sporting action. The BBC have launched 24 dedicated channels on satellite and terrestrial television, so it is possible to watch 24 different sports at the same time. You do need 24 separate TV sets for that, so I somehow don't see anyone doing that.

The small island of Berneray played host to the Scottish Education minister Mike Russell today, as he was shown round a community facility, the Nurse's Cottage. The link I supply may, when visited much later than the day of posting, show a different news item. Fellow researcher Direcleit is doing some work there on emigration from his isle of residence, a subject that appears to be a new focus for local historians. A new website, Hebrides People, was set up this weekend to help those who want to trace their roots from diaspora. There are now quite a few web-based resources around on the subject, and I quietly wished that someone would pull all the strands together. However, many of the sites (not just Hebrides People) charge for their services, so we can safely forget about this idea. The best site is Hebridean Connections, now slowly gathering dust. I have been told that it is not being updated and its funding withdrawn.